Hindu Jagran Manch bid to curb mosque ‘noise’

Hindutva hardliners, including the Shiv Sena, have in the past opposed the use of loudspeakers for azaan.

File photo of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: A day after Supreme Court made it clear that BJP heavyweights will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case, the Sangh Parivaar’s Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) launched a drive against loudspeakers being used for azaan (prayer) in mosques in Uttar Pradesh.

Perhaps taking a cue from playback singer Sonu Nigam’s objection to loudspeakers being used for azaan, the HJM said it was launching a “drive against noise pollution in the mosques.”

In UP, where chief minister Yogi Adityanath recently talked of “sabka saath, sabka vikas” and spoke against triple talaq, the campaign is certain to kick up a storm as it will be viewed as the Sangh Parivar pursuing a communal agenda.

But HJM member from Mirzapur, Diwakar Mishra, told this correspondent that the campaign is “not communal.” He argued that gurudwaras too use loudspeakers, but only during Sikh festivals.

“We are not against azaan, but against the use of loudspeakers on a regular basis,” he said.

He then went on to say, “If you go on hearing something loud every day, it is nothing but noise pollution.”

The HJM, he said, has no objection to the use of loudspeakers during Eid and Ramadan.

The HJM, which has demanded that the state administration deploy officials to make sure loudspeakers are removed from mosques, would be submitting a memorandum in this regard to the UP chief minister shortly.

Hindutva hardliners, including the Shiv Sena, have in the past opposed the use of loudspeakers for azaan. This time the issue seems to have been resurrected after Mr Nigam tweeted against the use of loudspeakers for azaan. The HJM member, however, said that their opposition to the use of loudspeakers for azaan has “nothing to do with Sonu Nigam’s tweet.”

As for the campaign, the HJM will organise state-wide protests against the use of loudspeakers, give memorandum to all the district officials, urging them to remove the loudspeakers.

The Hindu Jagran Manch, an affiliate of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, had also been in the forefront of anti-Valentine’s day protests across the country.